More to the Tory story

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/11/2024 (367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week, I wrote about Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s heavy-handed attempt to prevent members of his caucus from communicating their support for applications to the federal government by communities in their respective ridings for funding under the Housing Accelerator Fund. (See “Are Tory MPs loyal to leader or constituents?” — Nov. 9)

In that column, I discussed the fact that Poilievre’s office had issued a media release that named 17 Tory MPs who had written such letters, and announced that caucus members will no longer support municipalities seeking money through the fund.

In other words, Poilievre has prohibited his MPs from doing anything to support applications for Accelerator Fund applications in their respective ridings, despite the fact that the fund is pouring millions of dollars into communities across the country for the construction of desperately needed housing projects.

I suggested that the Tory leader was effectively preventing his MPs from carrying out their duties to represent the interests of the people who elected them. I questioned if the prohibition also applied to other federal government programs.

Seven days later, there’s more the story.

Last weekend, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a press conference on the issue, and he appeared to be repeating many of the points made in the earlier column. Then, two days ago, the CBC revealed that Conservative sources have told Radio-Canada that “Some Conservative MPs are frustrated after their leader, Pierre Poilievre, barred them from promoting a federal housing fund in their constituencies.”

Those sources confirmed, as I pointed out last week, that “Poilievre has instructed Conservative MPs to stop advocating on behalf of municipalities in their ridings who want to obtain funds through the $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund.” The report quotes a Conservative source as saying that “It’s extremely frustrating … MPs are being stopped from helping their cities for partisan reasons.”

Another source told Radio-Canada that “If by any chance I attended a municipal housing announcement funded by a Liberal initiative, I would be in a lot of trouble.”

The report also reveals that a number of Conservatives from various provinces were only willing to speak to Radio-Canada regarding the issue on the condition that they not be named, citing their fear of punishment for speaking to the media.

The report also revealed that Poilievre’s office released the names of the 17 Conservative MPs without first consulting them. They were blindsided. Indeed, the CBC report says that “a source close to the matter said the MPs were never informed that Poilievre’s office would make their names public and prevent them from applying for the funds on behalf of municipalities in their ridings.”

The report also reveals that a number of Conservative sources are critical of Poilievre’s actions, One source is quoted as saying that “This is no time to play politics with housing … Cities are entitled to their fair share of the pie, even if it comes from the Liberal government.”

As part of the report, CBC news and Radio-Canada also spoke to mayors of towns in ridings represented by the 17 Tory MPs. Mayor Merlin Blackwell of Clearwater, B.C., said that “We expect that the people elected to represent the constituents federally will help us.”

He added that he would be contacting his MP, Frank Caputo, telling him to “put the partisanship aside,” and that “if you started that process, you should finish that process.”

Mayor Alan Brown of Butternut Valley, N.B., was equally critical, telling Radio-Canada that “The responsibility, ethically and by their job, is to advocate for the constituents in their riding … Whether it comes from your party or another is irrelevant.”

The fact that multiple Conservative sources, apparently including caucus members, were willing to speak to the CBC and Radio-Canada about the issue is remarkable, given the iron-grip communications control that is exercised over that group by Poilievre and his senior staff. It suggests that the sources felt powerless, or perhaps scared, to raise their concerns internally.

Even more remarkable is the fact that those sources would speak out at a time when their party is riding high in the polls, and appearing to be on its way to a massive victory in the next federal election. The prospect of imminent victory is normally a tremendous unifier.

All of this suggests that Poilievre is not as popular among his MPs as many assume, and that some are frustrated, perhaps offended, by the heavy-handed way they are being treated by their leader.

This story may not be over. Over the coming weeks, it will be fascinating to see if Poilievre works to repair the harm that has been done within his caucus or, as is more likely, he and his enforcers attempt to identify and punish the MPs (and perhaps non-MPs) who had the courage to speak to the media.

If it is the latter, nobody shouldn’t be surprised if the leaks continue.